Work has been slow at the shop and I was off today, so I decided to tackle installing the M7 Mesh Grills that have been taking up space in my garage for a while.

Out of the box the grills looked great. But, fitting them to the car was somewhat of a challange.

They are well made, not your Lowes or Home Depot gutter mesh by no means.

The fit of each grill was a little off, so it took a little adjusting to get them to fit right. The center grill sticks out slightly on each top corner, but I can and will have to live with it. The bottom doesn't fit the opening as well as it could.

In my opinion, there are not enough anchor points for any of the grills. The top grill is anchored by 2 studs. The center grill is anchored by 3 studs. The bottom is anchored by 3 screws.

The top grill is a straight forward swap.

The bottom is pretty much a straight forward swap. You will have to drill 3 holes behind the grill for mounting screws.

The middle grill takes a little work. You have to cut out a section of you bumper cover behind where the grill mounts.

Before mounting the top grill, you need to spray paint the opening in the hood black.

You really need to spray behind where the center grill will mount. I was running out of time and about to sweat my *** off, so I didn't do that. I'll do it the next time I have the front end off.

I turned out pretty decent. It's different than most MINIs you see.

All in all, I'd rate the M7 Grills a 7 out of 10. They are nice, but could be better.

 

i had a grillcraft grill back in the day on my del sol.
the bottom grill has a similar mounting system IIRC, seems like a decent hold.

i haven't seen how the mini's two upper ones mount.

what did you pay for all 3 if you don't my me asking- and the source?

 

Here is the link to M7's page: http://www.m7tuning.com/parts/index.php?cPath=7_3

The 3 grill set is $388 + shipping

 

I pin holed mine with wire to decrease the gaps. Not perfect, but I would rate it a 8.5 vs the 7.0, without.......give it a try....

 

WSCRUISER
Which Splitter is that - looks great with ur new grille? How much was it and where can I get one?
Thx

 

Thanks for the tip. I'll try that when I take the front off again to paint behind the bumper.

 

Here is a link to the splitter:
http://store.bimmerperformancestore....-Cooper-S.aspx

Pricey, but easy to install and built to last.

 

So does the FRP black match our black perfectly?

 

Yes, that is the one you see on mine.

Now, it may be a little more glossy when you first install it because of it being new. But after a couple of washings you'll never notice the difference.

 

Wow, that splitter is nice but way too expensive. Wonder if there are cheaper alternatives out there.

 

So did you actually have to take the bumper off to install as their website suggests?

 

Looks good, however you can see the steel bumper through the mesh. Just pop the front bumper off and hit it with some black spray paint and it will hide it well.

 

Just mask off the WHOLE car first and ANY other cars, the wifes BMW, while you spray paint it Don't ask me how I know

 

Need to spray that alum black.

 

Spray paint gone wild huh.
I just newspapered off around the steel bumper and slid some cardboard behind and had no problems with over spray.

 

I had the M7 grilles for a while. They did look good, but the fit was a tiny bit off. There was about 1/4"-1/2" gap on top, but the bottom worked out quite well... There's really nothing to complain about on these. I recommend them. For me, I ended up preferring the Aero-kit's grills, but as far as straightforward install, the M7s are better. I think yours looks great though!